Zuko's mark
by Haywire9
Summary: Zuko is a dangerous thing to be in the Royal Family. Born without the flame, and blinded in one eye, He's been tasked with the capture of the most powerful human on the planet. This task likely wouldn't even be possible if it weren't for the help of a black-eyed being. This was a testing the waters sort of thing. The actual story I'm writing is called Outsider's Eye.
1. Outsider's Eye

Dishonored

 **Howdy. This is my first foray into creative writing (sort of) so I'm hoping that it's at least kind of worthwhile. Granted, it's not gonna be anything super wild. Basically this is a testing the waters kind of thing. the thought was interesting to me, and if it interests folks, I might run with it.**

Zuko bit back a growl of frustration as the two soldiers in front of him put him on the defensive. Both firebenders, they had an inherent advantage on him and his swords, but he wouldn't take it lying down. He dashed in, angling his blades to push the fire out and around him, before dropping into a low sweep on the right one's legs. As his opponent topples, he springs up into a pivot, using the flat of his sword to push the left soldier's aim off, using that momentum to bring himself into a quick, twirling step around, ending with a blade at each foe's necks.

As they yield, he runs through everything he thinks he could have done better. A fireball grazing him here, a whiffed swing there, each little nitpick he has with himself infuriates him. _If' I'm going to take the avatar, I need to fight perfectly._ He very pointedly does _not_ think about his odds of dealing with a master of four elements with no bending and a pair of swords. He almost lashes out at his crew again, but forces that urge back down. It's taken months for him to stop ebing the arrogant, demanding prince that screeches at his crew, and he doesn't want to fall into old habits. His father was at least right about learning respect, even if it's only for his crew.

 _I should really thank them for putting up with me for so long,_ He thinks as he goes back to his cabin. He's been running the set for far longer than he reasonably should have, and now he's exhausted. He brushes his uncle's concerned questions off, closing the door on him as he collapses in his bed.

He wakes up.

He looks around. He can't place it, but something feels... _off._ Like the world has fallen away, even though everything seems fine. He gets up, and opens his door. His uncle is frozen there. a look of concern etched on his face. He doesn't react to anything.

Zuko's worried now, on edge. He checks everywhere below deck. Everywhere, the same story. Either nobody there, or they're frozen, unresponsive. Swallowing his growing unease he moves up to the main deck; he immediately regrets it. The entire world around him is a dull gray, everywhere he looks, his crew is frozen, the ship is frozen. He looks over the edge of the railing, and there's no water. Zuko is on the verge of panicking now. _What could have done this to his crew?_

"Hello Zuko."

Whipping around in an instant, he finds himself incapable of moving, focused solely on the figure in front of him.

"Your life has been eventful, hasn't it, Zuko? Born a non-bender in the royal family, your father hating you for your weakness, your mother gone. . ." the figure pauses momentarily, "your eye taken. Pushed out into the world and given an impossible task. Which is why I've taken an interest in you."

The figure makes Zuko's flesh crawl, but he cannot choose but hear. To stare into empty, black eyes. The being stares impassively at him continuing.

"This is not the Spirit World. Nor is it the physical realm. This is the place between. The Void. My fellow spirits call me the Outsider, you may do the same."

Ah. So this is a spirit, then. But what is it talking about? The Void? What's going on? What does it want with _him?_

"You have an interesting life, Zuko. And so I give you my Mark. There are forces in this world, forces mortal men call magic; they are yours to command. Use it as you see fit. I will be watching with _great interest_."

In an instant, Zuko's hand is on fire. He can move once more, but he falls to his knees as his hand feels like it's being branded. As the pain subsides, he looks down. His hand has a small, ornate tattoo on it, with many points, and lines curving around a central circle. He can _feel_ the energy radiating off of it. He feels a tingling around the side of his face. Experimentally, he brings his hand to his scar, cupping the palm over the eye-socket. What he sees nearly makes him fall to his knees.

He can see out of the eye again. What's more, it seems that walls are merely _suggestions_ to his burned eye, as he can see clear through walls if he focuses. _This could be useful._ He takes a bit of time to figure out if the eye-covering is necessary, and finds that it is not, aside from first activating the ability. As he tests his new abilities, feels himself fading out again. . .

He wakes up. Zuko is still not entirely sure what the hell happened while he slept, but he checks his left hand. Sure enough, the Mark is still there. Bringing a hand to his scar, he activates his vision, before leaving his cabin and returning to the upper decks. His uncle immediately bombards him with questions, concern in his voice. At first these are merely about his sparring the previous day. Then Iroh notices his eye, and flies into a panic, because his normally gold eye has, under the scar, turned entirely black. 

_Pohuai Stronghold_

Zuko slips on his mask as he leaves the ship, trying very hard to _not_ think about the fact he is commiting treason so he can still catch the Avatar. Over the weeks leading up to this moment he has gained a greater understanding of the powers bestowed upon him. For one, he's found out that his Vision is not his only power. For another, he's refined his use of the Mark gifted to him, and as a result, he not only sees people and objects through walls, but can extend that skill to targets he focuses on, hearing them as though they were directly in front of him. He uses this to gather intelligence on the Avatar's whereabouts in the stronghold, before employing the use of his _other_ ability.

Reaching into a small pouch at his hip, Zuko pulls out a small, metal ball bearing. He rolls it along the floor of the corridor he finds himself in. It comes to a rest between the two soldiers guarding the door to the Avatar's cell. As they look down at it, he _explodes_ into their field of vision, landing between the two of them. with a quick flourish of his swords, he knocks both of them unconcious, before hiding them in a nearby closet.

As he steps into the cell, the avatar panics for a moment until Zuko snaps the chains. Immediately he understands he's being rescued. On the way out, they're ambushed by Zhao and the Yu Yan Archers. Fighting back the urge to swear loudly, Zuko mentally berates himself for letting his Vision stop at such a critical moment. All their combined attempts to escape fail miserably, but with some quick thinking from Zuko, they escape with the prince's blade at the Avatar's throat.

And then Zuko gets shot in the face. Lucky him, the mask protected him from dying, but he loses his grip, and the Avatar's gone, just like that. He would give chase, but he needs to be gone five minutes ago. Zhao's going to be on hunt for him soon enough. With a sigh at having his quarry slip away, he uses the contingency he put in place. All he needs to do is focus on the residual chi he pushed into the Pai Sho tile he left on his cabin's floor, and —

He's back in his cabin. _Perfect._ He turns around, and. . . His uncle is staring at him. He's been trying to keep these powers under wraps, and here he goes, teleporting in front of his uncle.

 _Dammit._


	2. A quick heads-up

**YO, a quick head's up! I'm going to start work on an expanded version of Outsider's Eye. It's going to go up soon, and it is gonna be much more in-depth. As in, it's starting just before Zuko heads to the South Pole, and there's going to be a lot more going on with the crossover.**


End file.
